Al-Ghazali letter to all those who wishing to achieve a peaceful and pious life
- Language:
- English
- Status:
- Complete work
- Authorship:
- Written by the author
- Condition of the text:
- No scanning noise detected (automatic measure over the whole text, not checked by hand)
- Extent:
- ~1,680 words · 8 passages
Cite this work
- APAAl-Ghazali. (n.d.). Al-Ghazali letter to all those who wishing to achieve a peaceful and pious life. Digital reproduction: SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/al-ghazali/al-ghazali-letter-to-all-those-who-wishing-to-achieve-a-peaceful-and-pious-life
- MLAAl-Ghazali. Al-Ghazali letter to all those who wishing to achieve a peaceful and pious life. Digital reproduction, SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/al-ghazali/al-ghazali-letter-to-all-those-who-wishing-to-achieve-a-peaceful-and-pious-life.
- ChicagoAl-Ghazali. Al-Ghazali letter to all those who wishing to achieve a peaceful and pious life. Digital reproduction, SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/al-ghazali/al-ghazali-letter-to-all-those-who-wishing-to-achieve-a-peaceful-and-pious-life.
Reference to the edition that SigPhi reproduces: SigPhi is its digital reproduction, not its publisher. The edition's year is not in the metadata (hence "n.d."), and the translator appears only when recorded.
What it is about
An open letter to whoever would live a peaceful and pious life.
Context and history
Unlike the rest, this one has no powerful addressee: it is directed to any reader, and comes closest to the register of The Alchemy of Happiness. It comes from the Fada'il al-anam, the collection of al-Ghazali's Persian correspondence, and appears in the catalogue as a separate piece. **It is none of his major works**: for those, see The Alchemy of Happiness and The Confessions of al-Ghazzali, also here. The original is Persian; this is an English translation.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
Similarly the large fortune at the disposal of kings also requires thorough scrutiny and careful investigation. Seen from this point of view a king hoards three kinds of wealth: *Money taken from some one by force. *Money collected from his subjects on account of a fine or penalty. *Money realized from subjects on account of tax and revenue at exorbitant rates. The above mentioned types of wealth are forbidden. Those kings and sultans are, of course, usurpers and tyrants who accumulate such wealth and do not return it to their rightful owners. There is a kind of money which is quite legitimate. This is the price of grain grown on one's own farm and disposed of. The goods on money stolen or taken away from others by brute force is illegitimate. The verdict of the Islamic Law is quite clear about this. The one who is in possession of such goods or money should distribute it among the needy, dervishes, or contribute it towards the welfare of the society. It must not be left in the hands of usurpers who will certainly misuse it and disturb social justice. If the owner of the money is a dervish, he should use as much of it as he is surely in need of. And if he is a rich man, he should not spend a single penny, but should contribute it towards the national reconstruction or the relief of the poor and needy. If this rich man is really in need of some money, he is allowed to take as much of it as is required to meet the bare necessities of his family. So and so has stayed several years in a hermitage near my home, he bears a good moral character and has discarded his worldly life for the sake of his life in the Hereafter. If a man is too poor to support his family and wants to be benefited by the sultans' voluntary charity or charitable endowments, he ought to secure a favorable religious verdict on this subject, and avail himself of the concession of the approval of a competent authority.